Rambles
by falafel90
Summary: Lily freaks out after James casually lets a couple of things slip. L/J one-shot.


A/N: Here's another one-shot. Read and review!

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"You know," James said one day at breakfast, "I really like your body, Lily." He then proceeded to shove a heap of scrambled eggs in his mouth.

"What?" Lily asked, rather shocked at such an admission from James. Though they had been going out for a month, James had been a gentleman, to the point where it was frustrating. Years of acting like a git and suddenly he becomes Head Boy, dates her, and turns into Mr. Too-Perfect. He seemed to be so afraid that he would step on her toes and kill their relationship that he was ultimately smothering her with chivalry and politeness. But this…this was against everything that James Potter had been for the past few weeks!

"Well," James said, now chomping on a triangle of toast, "I felt like I should tell you that I like you for more than just your personality and intelligence—which, indeed, make up the bulk of why I love you." And just like that, another shocker: he loved her.

Love. Though she had always suspected James would drop the L-bomb rather early on in the relationship, merely because he wore his heart on his sleeve, she never realized it would be this early. Lily wasn't prepared to handle James commenting on her body (despite the fact that she secretly enjoyed it), let alone him telling her he loved her, and it was all happening within one minute…man, she needed a nice tall glass of pumpkin juice.

She quickly poured herself a glass, and then downed it. James Potter was still eating away, as casually as ever, as if nothing happened; and Lily was about to drown herself in her drink. When did the tables turn? He was previously the rash and unstable one, and she, the serious and sophisticated of the two. Now…now it was James who was acting all studious and proper, and here she was acting as though she was certifiably mental.

She tried to calm down as James turned the other way to wave his friends over to where the two of them were seated, but she ended knocking over the pitcher of juice. She shrieked from the cold wetness hitting her lap, and she jumped up from the table. James immediately swiveled his head in alarm, and chuckled to see that Lily accidentally knocked over the pitcher. When he saw her panicked face, though, he frowned.

"Are you okay, Lils?" he asked, his voice filled with concern. "What's the matter?" As the Marauders approached the table, James got up from the bench at the table, and walked around the table over to Lily. Once he reached her, he put a hand on her waist and another on the back of her neck, but she awkwardly released herself from his grip.

"Uh, nothing," she said quickly. She pulled her wand out of her bag and dried her uniform, which now had a rather large orange stain on the skirt. "I'm fine," she lied, "but I forgot my Potions book and I really do need to retrieve it, or Slughorn will be furious." She patted down her skirt with her hands and grabbed her bag.

"Well, sure," James said, though he sounded suspicious, "alright. I'll come with you." He leaned over to grab his own bag, but Lily pulled him back.

"Oh, no! Sit, stay, eat. Enjoy breakfast with your friends. Please." Lily's argument was weak, however, and she couldn't shake James from her.

"No," he said, "the guys won't mind. Right?" James raised his eyebrows, giving them a look that told them that they had better answer correctly.

"You can't leave me, James!" Sirius said dramatically, throwing a hand up to his forehead. "Whatever will I—no, of course I don't care. Go off and snog Evans in a broom closet," he said, laughing. "That is the plan, I assume?"

"You are too crude, Padfoot," Remus said, as he, Sirius, and Peter took seats where Lily and James were once sitting. "Although I'm sure that's the idea, they clearly didn't want us to know, as they created a 'clever' disguise to throw us off the scent. Now you've gone and told the world," Remus said, trying to keep a stern face as he jokingly scolded Sirius.

"Well, you can't throw a dog off the scent, Prongs!" Sirius said, laughing. "You should've just told the truth if you didn't want me to guess it!"

Finally allowed a word in edgewise, Lily exclaimed, "We're not going off to snog!"

"I'm sorry," Remus said, looking apologetic, "I thought 'looking for my Potions textbook' was a euphemism for 'kissing in a dusty old cupboard.' But clearly I was mistaken." As he cracked a smile at the end of his speech, Lily could tell he was still mocking James and her.

"You're right, Moony," Sirius agreed. "We now know that 'looking for my Potions textbook' is code for 'shagging in the Transfiguration room.'" He, Remus, and Peter all cracked up at this.

"Why," Lily said, rolling her eyes, "would you assume that me searching the common room for my Potions textbook a euphemism for anything at all?" She looked at them angrily, her temper starting to rise, when Remus pointed a finger at what was on the table, in front of where she'd been sitting.

"Because," Remus said, giving a little side smile, "you're Potions textbook is sitting right there." All the Marauders, with the exception of James, found the situation hilarious; their laughter rang through the Great Hall, and everyone turned to look at them. Lily, however, flushed, and James looked at her quizzically.

"So where were you planning on going, Lils?" he asked, looking confused.

"To go drown myself in pumpkin juice!" she exclaimed, though she regretted it after she said it. "I mean, I—I just wanted some alone time to ponder your…er, _thoughtful_ words."

"Huh?" James said, sounding so completely befuddled that Lily felt sorry for him.

"What did you say to her, Prongs?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Nothing that would warrant her drowning herself in pumpkin juice. At least, I don't think so," James said, though he blushed as if her weren't telling the whole truth.

"Really?" Peter said, looking skeptical. He raised his eyebrows.

"Well, I might've—er—told her that I liked her body," James said, "which, I realize, looking back, was a foolish thing to say, I admit—"

"You do realize," Lily said, a bit annoyed, "that the 'her' of this conversation is standing right here, don't you?"

"—But," James continued, without pausing, but turning toward Lily, "it was only because I heard you talking to Mary last night about how I wasn't being myself, how I was too _proper_, or something, and that you wished I'd go back to the way I was _before_, when I wasn't so nervous about ruining our relationship, which really would be the most terrible thing that could ever happen to me…so I just—I blurted out the first thing that came to mind this morning, which I admit, was a bit much to deal with at seven o'clock in the morning, just as you're about to eat breakfast. While the 'proper' me would have censored the comment, the 'old' me wouldn't have, so I just said it, but clearly you were freaked, so..."

This was the James she wanted back. The James that babbled and rambled when he thought he was in trouble with her; the James that roamed the common room in his invisibility cloak and forgot that he was under the invisibility cloak at the time, and would later bring up things in everyday conversation that he shouldn't have heard; the James that was so in love with her that he didn't care how stupid he sounded, just so long as he could get her back in the end; the James that was standing in front of her.

"I love you," Lily said confidently. Though she repeated to him words that had just moments ago frightened her beyond belief, it only took James's rambles to show her that she loved him back. James, of course, looked positively floored.

"What? I—I don't understand," James said, giving her a doubtful, yet intense look. Sirius, Remus, and Peter looked on with avid interest, not even attempting to hide the fact that they were eavesdropping.

"I lied about the Potions book because—well, yeah, I was a bit freaked out about the body comment. Though I was slightly pleased, as well," Lily admitted, blushing. Sirius whistled, and James shot him a glare. "But it was more the fact that you had to throw in the 'I love you' thing," Lily said, trying to explain. "But when I saw you spluttering, telling me why you didn't censor the 'body' remark, I realized I love you, too," Lily said, as James grinned widely.

He shuffled over to her, closing the few feet that stood between them, and rested his hand on her cheek. "You are wonderful." The sentence flowed from his mouth easily, and she could tell he truly meant it. And then—"And you really _do_ have a spectacular body."

"I concur!" Sirius shouted, and James looked ready to kill him.

"Don't worry," Remus, said, rolling up his right sleeve, "I'll take care of it." With that, Remus smacked Sirius on the back of his head, and Sirius sighed.

"I must learn to keep my big mouth shut," he muttered to himself, though his friends around him heard him loud and clear.

Lily pulled James face back towards her, and said, "Where were we?"

"I think you were—quite unfortunately—about to drown yourself in pumpkin juice?"

"Was I?" Lily asked faintly, and she faked innocence. "I thought I was just about to snog you in a broom cupboard. But, oh well," she said, pretending to pull away from James, "if I was mistaken, I'll just go find that pumpkin juice, now…"

James pulled her back to him, and their bodies collided with a small thump. "No, I'm sorry, I believe it was _I_ who was mistaken. We'll just go find that broom cupboard, now," James said.

"It's too late," Lily said with a smirk. "You wasted your chance. We have Potions in ten minutes, and it takes nearly ten to get to the dungeons. You're out of luck, mister." She slapped him in the chest, grabbed her Potions book off the table, and began to walk away.

"As long as I have you," James shouted, and Lily turned around to listen, "I will always consider myself to be lucky!"

"What a charmer!" Lily shouted back, shaking her head, though she was pleased with the sweet and corny line James used on her. She turned around and started to walk to Potions.

"Wait up!" James yelled, as he waved goodbye to the Marauders and ran after her. "Wait, Lils! We're going to the same classroom!"

"I know," Lily replied. "I figured," she said, taking her index finger and running it down his chest, giving him shivers, "that you'd want to see me walk away."

"Why's that?" James asked, smiling as if he already knew the answer; he just wanted her to say it aloud.

"Because—you think I have a _lovely_ body," Lily said, shaking her head and laughing.

"Too right! But I'd rather admire your wonderful aptitude for banter and wit than your wonderful backside."

"Ah," Lily said, as James put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek, leading her towards the dungeons, "the James Potter I know and love is back!"


End file.
